Celestial Strike
by GaleBread
Summary: As the world continued to tear itself apart for their genetic differences, a new faction emerges from the ancient depths of history. Through destruction they herald the rebirth of the world, and amongst them a lost archangel searched for its own future.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Celestial Being**

_Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_ and _Mobile Suit Gundam 00_ are properties of Bandai. I do not own anything.

* * *

January 20th, C.E.71  
Earth Alliance Mass Driver site, Kaohsiung

* * *

The concrete walls of a technical school building collapsed as a lumbering behemoth smashed into the side, blackened ash and smoke rising out of its mechanical frame. Its pilot tried frantically to restart the short-circuited computer system, but a burst of pink bolts ended his attempt as they smashed through the cockpit, vaporising the pilot before he knew what happened. A furious explosion followed afterwards, and the orange-schemed Gundam left the site of the Tieren wreckage, turning its attention elsewhere.

"Mass driver secured. Kyrios, first phase objective achieved." An alarm blared out, and with a quick pulling back of the control levers, Allelujah spun his Gundam around, deftly dodging a railgun shot. A second later, an Enact with a hole in its chest fell backwards and detonated, its pilot dead before the machine ever hit the ground. The fighting had been fierce, and while his Gundam had received nary a scratch, the Kyrios pilot was getting a little tired from the constant combat. Still, his fatigue had not hampered his abilities, and with a swift jump the orange mobile suit rose into the air, methodically wiping out any counter attacks made by the Earth Alliance to recapture the Mass Driver with its GN Sub-machinegun.

Watching as another Tieren fell to his beam weapon, Allelujah Haptism let loose a suffering sigh, clearly unenthused by the destruction he wrought. "You're enjoying this aren't you, Hallelujah." It wasn't a question, and the Gundam Meister sighed again as he took down an approaching Enact with a flurry of beam bolts. "Please retreat already, there had been too many deaths today…"

As if on cue, a barrage of signal fire burst open behind the frontlines, and the mass of Alliance machines began a steady backtracking towards their central command. The Earth forces had been denied of their mass driver, for now, and the rest of the war.

* * *

ZAFT frontlines, Kaohsiung

* * *

An unfortunate GINN exploded as two beams lanced through it, reducing it into a pile of smouldering scrap metal. All around the streets, similar wreckages laid everywhere, trailing behind the imposing form of a heavily armoured, heavily armed mobile suit. From the corner of an apartment complex, missiles and 76mm cannon shells roar out towards the back of the machine, yet before the GINN pilot could celebrate, he was struck with disbelieve as the unknown suit emerged completely unscathed, a shimmering barrier of green protecting it from the onslaught. Disbelieve soon turned into fear, and as the Gundam turned its attention towards the ZAFT unit, the GINN pilot scrambled to escape from the fate that awaited him. A lance of rosy-pink ended the futile attempt moments afterwards.

Paying no mind as the GINN vanished into a plume of fire, Tieria Erde continued his part of the mission in relative silence. While the ZAFT forces were much more competent than their OMNI counterparts, and had mobile suits of a higher quality than the HRL Tierens, they were also fewer in numbers, and their suits more cumbersome than the new AEU Enacts. Combining with the fact that they used relatively low-power kinetic weapons, and were more focused on advancing against the Earth Alliance, meant that the ZAFT units posed almost no threat to Tieria and his Gundam Virtue.

The ZAFT command's attitude towards the Gundam, however, would change quite soon as it reached a vantage point above the battlefield, and readied its GN Bazooka.

Raising the gigantic cannon to the Gundam's chest, lights of emerald shone out like a beacon as GN particles flowed into the weapon, charging it up for a destructive blast. Its inner barrel extended outwards, Tieria aimed the cannon towards a large concentration of GINNs and Enacts as the weapon's particle vent spun up, unperturbed by the casualty he was to inflict in a moment's notice. "Releasing compressed particles. GN Bazooka, fire." Sparks of electricity arced around the particle vent as it hastened its rotation, glowing with the intense power gathering within the cannon's chamber. Then, with a swoosh of displaced air, the massive weapon released its fury, pushing the Gundam a few metres backwards under its enormous pressure. The arc of destructive beam blasted forth, and in an instant, buildings, GINNs and Enacts alike melted like butter, their pilots barely managed to scream as they and their machine vaporised into a mass of atoms.

Virtue turned to the next gathering of mobile suits, and repeated. Within five minutes, the frontlines had been turned into a hollow corridor, devoid of life and buildings alike. A No man's land on the mobile suit scale. Flares quickly followed, and the remaining ZAFT forces quickly retreated back to their staging area as the Alliance units abide to their own retreat orders, leaving behind an empty battlefield to the impassive pair of Gundams.

Ten minutes later, a series of large explosions erupted, and the Kaohsiung Mass Driver was no more, collapsing into a gigantic mess of twisted metals.

"Virtue, mission complete."

* * *

Cafeteria, Morgenroete Technical College, Orb Resource Satellite Heliopolis

* * *

Inside the cafeteria of Morgenroete's technical college on Heliopolis, a group of seven students gazed up at the television screen with the rest of the crowd. A sudden news report had interrupted the usual programming, and in these days in could only meant something big happened with the war between the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs. While the war as a whole had, in the citizens of the neutral colony's eye, nothing to do with them, it was still a good idea to keep up with current news.

"What do you think was happening?" Tolle Koenig, a sixteen years old boy with wavy brown hair, asked the others in the group. All he got was a shrug from his bespectacled friend Sai Argyle, and an indecipherable mumble from another friend, Saji Crossroad. He grinned back at them, expecting their response. "I bet it's something to do with Kaohsiung, it's the most prominent thing going on now."

"Tolle, focus." Miriallia Haw chided her boyfriend, and the group turned back to watching the news. As Tolle had predicted, it was to do with the Battle of Kaohsiung, though what was reported had surprised everyone. Kira Yamato frowned as the screen switched to a view of the battlefield.

A desolated, empty battlefield.

"_Today at 16:35 Greenwich Mean Time, a sudden development during the Battle of Kaohsiung had brought the days of fighting into a complete standstill. Reports came in detailing about two mysterious mobile suits having opened fire on both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces, and had in under two hours dominated both sides of the battlefield."_ Two square images replaced the main view, each showing a mobile suit with designs completely different to both the Alliance and ZAFT, and having absolutely no trouble against the two forces. Tolle whistled in awe as the black and white-schemed machine annihilated a group of mobile suits with a single blast. _"Both Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces retreated from the frontlines after sustaining heavy casualties, and ten minutes afterwards the Kaohsiung Mass Driver had collapsed in a series of explosions. Over 600 casualties were resulted from today's engagement, including 168 civilian deaths and 213 injured during the fighting. We will hear more from correspondent Ikeda, live on Kaohsiung."_

Casting glances at each other, Kira and the others turned their focus back onto the watch screen, watching intently as the screen background flickered and a bespectacled man appeared. Behind the man, soldiers could be seen moving around, carrying off the injured and tending to the aftermath of the battle. _"This is Ikeda, live on Kaohsiung. Just under an hour ago, the fighting has stopped after the appearance and subsequent attack on both sides by two unidentified mobile suits. As can be seen, both Alliance and ZAFT casualties are high, and the Kaohsiung Mass Driver has been reduced to scraps. We don't know who they are or why those two machines have decided to destroy the mass driver after fighting both sides, but it is clear that this is a disaster for both the Alliance who had lost their first mass driver in the war, and ZAFT who had spent a large amount of resources on this operation. Officials from both sides have refused to comment on this unexpected turn of events, and now that the mass driver had been destroyed, it is not known if ZAFT will continue the assault. We'll report any updates when more information are gathered. This is Ikeda, live on Kaohsiung."_

Caught completely unprepared for what he heard and saw, Kira blinked in surprise, his mouth slightly ajar after hearing the news. This was not what he was expecting when the news report came in. _Those looked…powerful. Who made them? And why?_ He thought, then shook his head, trying to forget those images. _Doesn't matter, we're in Orb, the war have nothing to do with us._

* * *

G Project factory, Morgenroete, Heliopolis

* * *

The amount of tension within the walls of the factory was palpable, as technicians and officers alike watched the news about the battle, and more importantly, those two mobile suits.

_Those are G Weapons._ Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, officer of the Earth Alliance Forces 8th Fleet and part of the _G Project_ development team, thought as she stared at the two images with incredulousness. _How did they…and who…_

Another thought intruded upon her then, a thought that sent an unnatural chill up her back. _If they knew, could that mean ZAFT also knew about our project?_ She frowned at that possibility, and looked up towards the command centre. One of the officers there noticed her gaze, and nodded with a grim expression. It seems like they too have realised the possible danger they now faced. Returning the nod, Murrue quickly began to order the technicians to hasten up their work, before the attention of the whole facility was brought back onto the screen.

It was now playing a recording. Of a bearded, bespectacled man sitting on a chair, speaking.

"_A message to all the people born both on the planet and in space. We are Celestial Being. A private military organisation, owning the mobile weapons Gundams. Our aim, and the purpose of our existence, is to eradicate warfare from this world. We will not act for personal gain, for we stand only for the eradication of warfare. To the world we declare, whether for land, for religion, for energy, for whatever reason there may be, we will engage in armed intervention against any and all conflicts. Countries, organisations and groups who supports conflicts, they are all targets of our armed intervention. We are Celestial Being. A private military organisation found for the purpose of eradicating warfare from this world."_

"Celestial Being…" Murrue muttered under her breath, clearly perturbed by this development. _A private military organisation, fighting against anyone to eradicate warfare? That's…hypocritical of them._ Biting down on her lips, she went back to ordering the construction of the G Weapons. Whether they were hypocrites or not, the group had clearly stated their targets, and had the resources and power to back up their claim. And Murrue Ramius had a very good hunch that they might become one such targets themselves, given that they were developing similar weapons of their own. "We must finish construction soon. It's a matter of time before either ZAFT or this Celestial Being found out about our project, if they haven't already. Hamana, what are the suits' and the ship's statuses?"

* * *

Bridge, ZAFT _Nazca_-class Destroyer _Vesalius

* * *

_

Onboard the flagship of Rau Le Creuset, reactions were mixed when the bridge crew and officers witnessed the report and recording sent directly from the homeland.

"Well, well. Isn't this quite something." Le Creuset said quietly, clearly amused despite his face being shrouded behind his mask. "They looked quite similar to those photos our insider took on Heliopolis, doesn't them, Ades."

"Yes, Commander, they do share a similar look with what we've found." Fredrick Ades, the captain of the _Vesalius_, nodded unsurely. "Still, those suits we've found were clearly built by the Earth Alliance…"

"A double agent, or defector, perhaps. Probably from this Celestial Being to the Earth Alliance, since they finished theirs first." Le Creuset smiled, picking up one of the photos taken. "Regardless, we should keep moving. Ades, how long till we reach Heliopolis?"

"Three days, Commander." Ades said, looking less than enthused. "I still think we should wait for an answer from the Supreme Council before we act."

"I have a feeling it'll be too late by then. And besides," Le Creuset smirked. "It's quite possible those Gundams would appear too, if they're serious about their intent on eliminating conflict."

"You think they have a space force, Commander?" Ades asked.

Le Creuset nodded as he pushed himself towards the bridge entrance. "Of course, a majority of ZAFT forces were in space, after all. Go and contact the _Gamow_, we'll need to move swiftly from now on if we want to capture those units before anyone tries anything." He paused just before exiting. "And make sure the infiltration team was briefed about the possibility of armed interventions. I'll be in my quarters if you need me."

"Yes, Commander."

_Celestial Being… looks like they're disgusted by this pointless world as well, if foolishly naïve about the state of things… _Le Creuset mused idly as he passed into the corridors. _Like Durandal, these idealists thought this wretched race could be saved. Still, everything will change once we've gotten those new mobile suits. Whatever new toys those Naturals thought up, I'm sure it'll help bring this damned existence to an end._

Rau Le Creuset smiled. He knew, almost instinctually, that _Heliopolis_ will be where everything begins. "Well then," He said to himself. "Let's see what you're capable of in space, Celestial Being."

* * *

A/N: Well, it's been quite a while since I've typed anything for a story, and given I haven't tried anything like this before, the quality may be somewhat lacking. Still, I think I should do okay overall. Anyway, those who know me should already be familiar with my slow updating schedule, but for those who don't, well, don't expect anything for the next month or so. I do however have the legitimate reason of having important exams to study for, this time.

As for whether I'll finally manage to finish something at all. Well, I _was_ planning on continuing into Destiny, if possible. Either way, as this was only the prologue, the main story hasn't actually started at all, and so there were little to nothing interesting going on. If you could bear with me for a month of two however, I should be able to get something out if nothing serious happens.

And, as always, comments and constructive criticisms are welcomed.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Changing Circumstances**

_Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_ and _Mobile Suit Gundam 00_ are properties of Bandai. I do not own anything.

* * *

January 25th, C.E.71  
Campus Ground, Morgenroete Technical College, Heliopolis

* * *

Moving with practiced ease, Setsuna F. Seiei quickly hid himself from public view behind the surrounding tall vegetations. Pausing only to give the place a swift scan for any eavesdroppers, he brought out his pocket computer and punched in a series of buttons, bringing up the coded channel used between Gundam Meisters and their carrier ship, the _Ptolemaios_. A screen came up with a flash, and the visage of a brunette sprung into view.

"Sumeragi Lee Noriega." The teenager said quietly and crisply, acknowledging the tactical forecaster of _Ptolemaios_ with strict professionalism. In contrast, the brunette bore an impish smile.

"_Took you long enough to pick up the call, were I…interrupting something?"_ She asked with a wink, only to falter slightly when Setsuna failed to return any sort of reaction. Sighing, she flicked her hand a few times, as if to physically brush the whole incident aside. _"Anyway, we've received a transmission from Wang Liu Mei. According to her report, the AEU is removing all Enact on loan to the HRL, and Kaohsiung's more or less abandoned territory. Given the results, we've concluded that our first field operation's a success. However, that was only on the surface, so it remains to be seen how we fare in space. Now this is where you and Lockon come in, as earlier reconnaissance have confirmed a _Nazca-class _and a _Laurasia-class_, positively identified as the _Vesalius _and the _Gamow_, moving into the vicinity of Heliopolis. _VEDA_ has supported the conclusion I've reached as to why they were there, so it's quite likely that ZAFT is here for either a Search and Destroy mission against the Alliance's G Project, or intending to take them by force."_

Five images sprung up on Setsuna's holographic screen, who frowned at the photos of the Alliance's Gundam imitations. He could still remember the utter chaos that followed when the information about the Atlantic Federation's top-secret project came into Celestial Being's hands. It was obvious where the Alliance's design concepts came from, even if it was only the most basic of mobile suit structures, which meant there was a traitor within the organisation itself, as they had yet to commence operations when they discovered the news.

It had disturbed everyone, but none were more greatly affected by this information than Setsuna himself. To him, the Federation Gundams were a mockery of the mobile suit that had rescued him from the hopeless battlefields of Krugis, from the shattered remains of his faith.

It was just as well that they did not bear the name of Gundam officially, for in his opinion those imitations deserved no such title.

"Acknowledged; any changes to the mission objective?" Setsuna asked, with a bit of distaste. The current objective annoyed him, even if he could see why it was necessary.

"_The objective remains the same, so don't go and destroy those Federation units just yet. Remember, although two would be preferable, at least one suit must remain in Alliance hands. Your main task would be to distract ZAFT forces from the factory facilities, where our ground operators would delay two of the suits from being transported out once ZAFT made their diversionary attack. Securing one of the suits for our own investigation was, however important, a secondary objective to keeping the two sides from wiping each other out before we became a significant enough threat to both government. So watch out for any opportunities to take a suit back, but focus on being a distraction. Lockon will support you from outside the colony by keeping the space forces busy, so you don't have to worry too much about enemy reinforcements after the initial batch."_ Sumeragi paused, taking a swig from a metallic canteen. Behind her Christina Sierra said something and the remaining crew reacted, but she purposefully ignored them. _"Extract and regroup at our location once the ZAFT ships retreats and leaves Heliopolis. Also, remember to keep collateral damages to a minimum. You're in a neutral civilian colony, so watch your steps. Oh, and if you have time, please grab some more beer for me while you're in there!"_ She finished with a grin.

Setsuna nodded, and closed the link with a click of a button. The holograph fizzled out, and everything became quiet again. Silently extricating himself from the bushes, he stored away his pocket computer and gave himself a quick pat-down, playing the role of a student that had just taken a shortcut through the campus woods. Four pair of footsteps approached him, and he looked up to found four brunettes of different shades returning his gaze.

"Hey Setsuna, what're you doing here?" One of the four, who the teenage Gundam Meister recalled as Saji Crossroad, asked while walking closer. The boy glanced at the leaves and twigs scattered along the side path. "Taking a shortcut?"

"Saji Crossroad." Setsuna acknowledged the brunet, answering his question with a nod, and turned to give the remaining three a curt greeting. "Kira Yamato, Miriallia Haw, Tolle Koenig."

"So, you're free right? Want to come with us?" A hand tried to wrap around Setsuna's shoulders, but he stepped aside and pushed it away. To a side, Tolle Koenig paddled back a few steps, hands held up in surrender. Behind him, Miriallia and Kira chuckled softly, and the cheery brunet soon too adopted a grin. "Still as cold as always, huh? I'll never see why Saji thought you're good friend material."

"He's a pretty nice guy once you get used to him." Saji retorted, to which Tolle just shrugged in return. Kira, who had now stopped chuckling, moved up and tried to get the conversation back on track.

"We're going to professor Kato's place." The amethyst-eyed boy explained quietly. "I don't think the professor would mind a visitor, and we could get you a temporary pass easily. So if you want to come along…"

Shaking his head, Setsuna turned around and walked away in silence. Rolling his eyes and shrugging exaggeratedly, Tolle gave Saji a knowing smile.

"See? I told you he's colder than liquid nitrogen."

Still a bit disheartened by the outright refusal, Kira herded, with the help of Miriallia, the other two boys along before they could start bickering, smiling rather sadly. "Well, we should get going anyway. We won't have enough time to finish the analysis before night comes if we don't hurry."

* * *

Bridge, Alliance _Marseille III_-class Transport Carrier

* * *

"And so this old bird had finished its final mission." The Captain of the old transport carrier said cheerfully, and with more than a little bit of wistfulness. "I'm sure she would've preferred to go out in a blaze of glory, but I suppose the both of us deserved our retirement."

"Now now, Captain, don't jinx the ship with the whole retirement speech, the crew and I still needed you to get us out of here." A man with blonde hair quipped with a grin, and both he and the Captain shared a hearty laugh.

Calming down from his mirth, the Captain took his officer's hat off and gave the ship's main defender a grateful nod. "You've served fantastically as an escort, Lieutenant La Flaga."

"Don't mention it." Mu La Flaga replied with a cordial shrug. The escort duty had been a relatively peaceful time for the Lieutenant of the 7th Fleet, which was a welcomed respite for the famed Hawk of Endymion. "I'm just glad that this had been a pleasantly quiet trip."

He stole a glance at the holographic image depiction of the surrounding spatial area. "Any movements of ZAFT forces around the area?"

"We've tracked two ships, but don't worry about them." The Captain shrugged. "There's not much ZAFT could do once we've docked."

"Just because it's neutral territory, huh?" Mu slouched, his smile not too successful at hiding the slight tone of ridicule. "What a joke."

"Well, it's all thanks to that that our plans had gotten so far and so smoothly." Grinning, the Captain swung his hat in a slow horizontal arc, as if to show just how well things had gotten. "After all, Orb's still one of Earth's countries, regardless of whatever crazy ideals that Athha spouts."

"If you'll excuse us, sir." A group of five young men saluted the Captain as they left, who returned the gesture with a nod.

Mu watched neutrally as they went out. "Speaking of Orb's political standing, you sure it's a good idea to let them go alone?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"Oh don't worry about it; they may be young, but they're all top guns selected specifically for this project." The Captain said with another hearty laugh. "And besides, it'll just attract more attention to them if someone like you went along, eh?"

The Hawk of Endymion smiled in defeat. That was quite true, after all. "Well, I suppose you're right." He said, heading for the exit. "I'll go check up on my Flag, then."

"Still worried about Z-"

"It's not ZAFT I'm worried about." Mu interrupted before the Captain could finished, eliciting a look of surprised from the aged officer.

An expression of understanding soon dawned on the Captain, and he nodded. "Ah, that Celestial…something group."

"Yeah, they don't seem to particularly care about who they're hitting after all." Mu said. "It's a miracle they haven't try to intercept us while we're out there."

"Well, I'd imagine they were a more reactionary bunch than, say, Blue Cosmos." The Captain hushed quietly, watching the other crew members carefully. He might've cared about Blue Cosmos' goals as much as he cared about Athha's idiocy, but it's still a bad idea to speak about it so openly. This was supposed to be his last mission in his long military career; it would be rather unfortunate to get stuck with a Dishonourable Discharge just because one of the crew was a Blue Cosmos member, now. Fortunately, no one seemed to have heard what he said, or at least cared if they did, so he continued in a more relaxed tone. "It's against their stated goal of ending wars by stirring things up themselves, right?"

"I suppose." Mu shrugged, giving the Captain a salute as he left. "But it's still better to be prepared for anything."

"Heh, I'll give you that." The Captain returned the salute, and the Hawk of Endymion was gone the next moment.

* * *

Asteroid Belt, Near Heliopolis

* * *

"I must ask again, Commander, are you sure we should be doing this?" Upon the bridge of the _Vesalius_, Fredrick Ades grimaced as the transport pods cruised towards the abandoned resource asteroid orbiting the colony. It'll take some hours before the asteroid closed upon Heliopolis itself, so there was still time to abort the operation. Ades hoped his commanding officer really knew what he was doing. "Surely if we waited for the Supreme Council to-"

"As I've said before, I have a feeling it'll be too late by then, and we'll be paying our mistakes with our lives." Rau Le Creuset took up one of the photos and sent it floating towards the ship's captain. "You're a good officer Ades, but you played too close to the book. Sometimes you must think outside the box if you want to succeed."

"But sir, we cannot be sure-"

"You saw, for yourself, an active and undamaged Alliance ship docking in the harbour of a decidedly neutral colony. Given the level of completion of those suits, it's highly probable that regardless what the official reason may be, that ship was carrying Alliance test-pilots." Le Creuset said, pulling himself onto his seat, his faint smile never leaving his face. "The council will still be arguing for days. We don't have that long."

Pursing his lips into a thin line, Ades turned back to the frontal screens with a sigh, catching the drifting photo with ease. "Yes, of course, you're probably right."

* * *

Inside the cockpit of the camouflaged Gundam Dynames, Lockon Stratos yawned audibly. It had been more than three hours since the ZAFT ships arrived at the outskirts of Heliopolis, and the lack of activities had began to bore the Gundam Meister. Sure, he knew that some sort of Spec Ops, probably a bunch of greenies lead by a few red elites, had already infiltrated the colony and were preparing the attack, but that knowledge made the wait no less boring. Briefly, he wondered if Celestial Being's reactionary policies had been a mistake, but he quickly dismissed that line of thought. They were not there to create conflict themselves. To strike without a key evidence or clear instigating source, that would make them no better than _terrorists_.

Lockon clenched his hand tightly as that word filtered through his thoughts, and he had to consciously refrain himself from triggering anything by accident. _Mother…father…Amy…I'll avenge you all, I swear it_. He gritted his teeth together, forcing himself to breathe in deeply. That was his reason for accepting Celestial Being's offer when their agents found him, to exact vengeance against those who had harmed the innocent due to their own twisted logic and ideals. It may not have been the most noble of goals, but to Neil Dylandy, the Gundam Meister who had lost most of his family during the KPSA bombing, who had been alienated from his own surviving twin brother in the aftermath, it was a good enough reason to join the shadowy organisation, for it gave him the power needed to change the world.

And if abandoning his name was what was needed to accomplish his goal, if eradicating warfare on the way was what was needed to achieve his vengeance, then he'll gladly take up the title of Lockon Stratos for the rest of his life. He did not regret his choice, for there was nothing left for him in his old life.

"_Jamming detected! Jamming detected!"_

Glancing down at the orange Haro clasped securely onto its socket, Lockon smiled briefly. His friend always knew when and how to distract him.

Flexing his muscles, Lockon pulled down the targeting reticule, his eyes and mind sharpened in readiness. The optical camouflage of Dynames faded away, and the Gundam's GN Drive spun up to its combat output.

It's time to fight.

"Right then, it's our debut here. Time to make some friends, Gundam Dynames." he said with a confident smirk, suppressing his sombre thoughts as the Gundam's GN Sniper Rifle rotated into a firing position, the computer beginning to select potential targets. Revenge-driven or not, he was not facing terrorists right now, but rather professional soldiers; people who would not intentionally harm the innocent. So while he wouldn't be too lenient against them, he didn't feel like being overtly hostile either.

_Of course, I'll still have to shoot you guys down._ Through his scope, he saw the hatch of the _Vesalius_ opened up, and its linear ejection systems locking into place. A GINN soon flew out of it, as expected. "ZAFT unit sighted, Lockon Stratos, sniping target enemies."

* * *

Within the bridge and docking bay of the _Vesalius_, pilots and crewmen alike flinched as the first GINN, barely out of the ejection port, detonated in a flash as a pink beam lanced through its armour like paper.

Rau Le Creuset, who had held an arm up to protect himself from being stung by the blinding light, chuckled. "Well, it seems we're expected." Up on the frontal monitors, a communication screen opened up to the _Gamow_ as a channel was established. "Ades, Captain Zellman, halt the mobile suit launches for the moment. Remain on standby and wait for my orders."

The captain of the _Gamow_ nodded, and the screen flickered off. To the front, Ades looked up to his commanding officer with curiosity. "What have you in mind, Commander?"

"Let's think for a moment, Ades. We've been sitting ducks within the asteroid field for quite some time now; yet we never came under attack until we commenced combat operations." Le Creuset smiled coolly. "And only one shot was fired."

Ades narrowed his eyes as the implications sunken in. "A distraction, and maybe a warning at the same time. Whoever fired that shot weren't trying to destroy us, or at least our ships."

"Correct, and that is an advantage we could use." Le Creuset motioned the communications officer to start belaying orders to the _Gamow_. "Bring starboard to sixty, axial tilts twenty, engage maximum thrust." A chorus of shouting and typing echoed throughout the bridge of the _Nazca_-class vessel as the bridge crew began relaying the updated orders. To a side, the pale-green _Laurasia_-class accompanying Le Creuset's flagship imitated the manoeuvre taken by the _Vesalius_.

Amidst the commotion, Rau Le Creuset continued giving out orders through the ship's captain. "Launch our mobile forces when in cover of the surrounding asteroids and tell the pilots to stay in cover. Prepare and launch decoys between deployments." He pushed himself out of his seat and made his way to the bridge entrance. "And tell the mechanics to prepare my CGUE, I'm going out myself."

"Yes, Commander."

* * *

Lockon whistled as he watched the ZAFT ships' manoeuvres through the asteroid fields. "That was quick. I'm impressed, Rau Le Creuset." He muttered, as he saw his shot piercing through a decoy balloon. A white suit, a CGUE according to the database, flew out behind a large asteroid before he could realign his sight. Releasing the targeting reticule for the moment, the Gundam Meister typed a few keys onto the holographic screen, setting the preliminary combat plans sent by their tactical forecaster into action before refocusing his sights. With mechanical precision the mobile suit left the asteroid it had anchored on and sped towards the battlefield. "Let's see if your reputation holds up on the field as well. Haro, I'll leave the suit's movements to you."

"_Roger! Roger!"_ The energetic AI chirped, and Lockon grinned, trusting his safety to the small robotic construct.

Lining up his sight at a GINN, he began to lead his target, letting the onboard computer to help with the fine tuning. Once he had gotten to a good estimate, Lockon pressed the trigger, and a long lance of rosy beam flittered silently across the vast emptiness of space, striking the torso of the ZAFT machine with perfect accuracy. The unfortunate mobile suit exploded in a spherical flash, and it was no more.

That marked the second ZAFT suit destroyed before any return fire was committed.

"Come on, weren't you guys supposed to be in the famous Le Creuset team?" Lockon whispered, bringing his Gundam forward and angling his rifle to fire a shot at the white CGUE. To Rau Le Creuset's credit, the ZAFT commander had saw the incoming shot and dodged with quick roll to the right. Another two shots came in quick succession, but having expected them, Le Creuset had no trouble evading the beam shots fired from the Dynames.

Lockon whistled again as Dynames dodged the returning shots fired by Rau; still accurate despite the CGUE's non-optical targeting being hampered by GN particles. "Hey, you _are_ pretty good." He said, freeing the left hand of Dynames to grab the holstered GN Beam Pistol. With two weapons in hand, he charged his Gundam towards Le Creuset's machine, engaging the ZAFT commander in an intense mobile suit duel.

Temporarily free from the danger, the remaining four GINNs flew directly towards the Orb colony, intent to make up for the delay caused by the Gundam.

* * *

Colonial Harbour, Heliopolis

* * *

"I suppose I should be happy it wasn't shooting at us." Mu La Flaga mumbled as he stared at the screen depicting the battle between a Gundam and a CGUE, all the while strapping himself in and starting up his Gunbarrel-installed custom Flag's engine. The old transport vessel he was guarding before was now slowly moving out of the colony port, and within moments both his custom and a pair of regular Realdo Space Types cleared the ship, racing to help the woefully outgunned Mistrals of the Orb Colonial Defence. "Luke, Gail, focus on dealing with the GINNs for now, but watch out for the Gundam. It might be shooting at ZAFT suits right now, but that doesn't mean Celestial Being's our ally."

Thumbing the controls, Mu fired off a linear rifle shot at the closest GINN, piercing through one of the enemy's leg verniers. The gunbarrel pods mounted on his Flag detached themselves from his suit's booster unit, and began peppering the ZAFT unit with small 20mm rounds, forcing the enemy pilot into evasive manoeuvres. Another round from his linear rifle ended that futile attempt, and the Hawk of Endymion began to scan for his next target.

A curse escaped him when he found the transport ship he was counting to get home on exploded in a gigantic fireball; its bridge, having been designed before the advent of mobile suit warfare, was destroyed by a barrage of shots. The two GINN responsible then flew down into the support shaft of the colony. _There goes my ride_. Mu thought bitterly as he sped towards the harbour. _So much for joking about the jinx_.

It was then that he had caught a sudden, ominous feeling.

A feeling he knew all too well.

He cursed again as he turned towards the two duelling machines, who had came closer to the colony itself during their battle. "I should've known it was _you_, Rau Le Creuset!"

* * *

Morgenroete, Heliopolis

* * *

Unhindered by the battle raging out in space, the five young ZAFT elites, distinguished by their red-themed normal suits, crouched down next to a cliff. Behind them, twenty regular greens took to their positions, setting up a defensive perimeter around the small outcrop. One of the reds, a teenager with indigo hair, looked down onto the watch strapped to his wrist.

"The explosives should go off in just under a minute." The teenager, Athrun Zala, said quietly. Standing up next to him, the silver-haired Yzak Joule snorted. They and the other three reds Dearka Elsman, Nicol Amarfi and Rusty McKenzie had been in the same class during academy years, and the rivalry between the sons of Zala and Joule had been quite infamous.

As he looked down on his own watch, Yzak snorted again. "It better b-"

"Wait, who's that?" The green-haired Nicol interrupted Yzak as he aimed his scope at a person below the cliff surface, running towards them. Every member of the infiltration team immediately took to the nearest cover, alarmed. Opting to stay where he was to better track the movement, Nicol increased his scope's magnification. "A civilian? No wait, he's…he's calling someone! Athrun!"

Before anyone could do anything, a series of explosions went off within the Morgenroete facilities, and a tremor shook through the Island-3 type colony. Geysers of flame flew up into the air, bringing along metallic debris and the like upon stunned civilians unfortunate enough to be caught in their way. Emergency alarms began blaring moments later, and a wave of panic slowly encompassed the entire colony as the confused populace began surging towards the various outlaying shelters installed within the gigantic space-borne structure.

Athrun Zala bit down on his lips, and motioned the others to follow him as he activated his flyer pack, boosting his way towards the three Gundam-type mobile suits on the highway. "We've already come this far, we must keep going. The Federation must not keep those suits." He shouted through the swishing wind, nodding at his fellow ZAFT soldiers. Watching as the team arranged back into formations, the indigo-haired ZAFT red risked a glance back at the cliff, where their supposed spotter had been.

He stared in bafflement at what he saw.

Appearing as if out of nowhere, an unfamiliar mobile suit was leaning against the cliff face. Even as he watched, spots that were once brown bare rocks flickered and disappeared into metallic red, blue and white. What appeared to be the hatch opened, and the person they saw before climbed into the suit's cockpit. Athrun breathed in hard as he realised what it was. "Optical camouflage; and the design…!" He quickly turned back towards the direction of the Alliance suits, as gasps and murmurs told him that the others had saw it too. "Don't panic, and stay in formation! Yzak, take Dearka and Nicol and secure those three units; Rusty and I will get the two still inside the factory! Move quickly, and be careful; we can't count on reinforcements coming in on time if Celestial Being's involved!"

* * *

Holding desperately onto the metallic desk, Kira tried to stabilise himself as heavy quakes sent the laboratory equipments all over the place. Stacks of paper fluttered into the air, while coffee mugs and computer monitors alike fell off the table, shattering into a thousand pieces or receiving cracks in several places. Fluorescent lights mounted on the ceiling shook violently from side to side, flickering on and off as power fluctuates across the whole research facility, and sparks flew wildly from almost every electronic device within the lab, the pained whines of machinery parts threatening to devolve any moment into dangerous roars of fire. Confusion and fear gripped the hearts of the college students, and they screamed as they tried to hold onto the nearest thing while the world around them descended into hellish chaos. Sai and Saji were both holding onto a miraculously still standing chair, and both Miriallia and Kuzzey were holding frantically onto the exoskeleton suit Tolle was strapped into. The other person in the lab, a blonde who was said to be visiting the professor, seemed to have a bit less trouble standing with just a door handle.

"What was that, an asteroid?" Sai asked aloud when the tremor finally stopped, trying to push himself back up. A hand grabbed his arm, and he looked back at Kira as he and Saji was helped back on their feet. "Thanks, Kira."

"Don't mention it." The brunette smiled, looking relieved. At least no one was hurt by any falling equipments. "We should get to the shelters though, that impact was too big to be harmless."

The emergency alarms then started blaring, fashionably late.

Tolle rolled his eyes at the now flashing red bulb atop the lab entrance. "So much for being an 'emergency alarm', I thought I was going to die before I see it light up." He deadpanned, making his way to the doorway. The others quickly followed him. "Come on, let's go!"

Outside, the hallways were relatively clear, and the motley group of teenagers made for the emergency escape. Another tremor hit the complex, and Saji helped a stumbling Kuzzey found his balance. "Another one?" He looked up warily, before following Sai into the staircases. _Louise, please be safe…_

"What's going on?" Sai asked aloud as he looked at the crowd of people going up the stairs. Some of them looked a little _too_ afraid for what was supposed to be an asteroid collision.

"I don't know." A man walked past, rather irritated.

"It's ZAFT, they're attacking." The evacuee behind the first man answered as he shuffled up the stairs. "There are mobile suits inside the colony."

"What? Why wo-" Saji started, before another round of shaking arrived. Back beyond the exits, Kira spotted the blonde guest running down the corridors, and tried to chase her.

"Hey, that's not the right way!" He shouted, before ducking under another tremor. The blonde either didn't hear him, or decided to ignore him and kept on running.

"Kira!"

Looking back, the brunette found Tolle standing in the doorway. He gave his friend a nod, and then resumed chasing the blonde. "Don't worry, I'll be right back!"

* * *

Flying out of the support shaft, Miguel Aiman cursed as he and Matthew banked their GINNs towards the column of Alliance vehicles on the highway. "Sorry Yzak, we got a bit sidetracked by a Gundam." He said into the comm., then open fired on the equipment trucks. Next to him, Matthew fired at a few SAM trucks, when a series of pink bolts rocketed across the ZAFT suit. "What the...Matthew!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a flesh wound." The ZAFT pilot said; dodging right as his suit's mono-eye focused upon the approaching enemy. "We've got a bigger problem; it's another of those Celestial Being Gundams!"

"Oh great. Matthew, take care of it." Miguel grinded his teeth together as he watched the salvo he shot at the Gundam got dodged, almost lazily. "I'll go and help the ground team."

"Got it!"

* * *

"Where are you going, that's not the right way!" Kira shouted through the rumbling of distant explosions as he grabbed the arm of the blonde. While there actually were other exits, those were too far away to be practical, and the brunette didn't wish to see the professor's guest get into an accident because she was impatient. He didn't expect the blonde to shout right back at him.

"No, where are _you_ going! You shouldn't follow me!" The blonde shouted, breaking the arm-hold. "Go and get to safety yourself!"

Even though it probably wasn't the best of time, Kira couldn't help but be puzzled at the voice, and then the face of the other person. _That sounded a bit high for a man, there, and he looked rather feminine, too..._

A gust of wind, no doubt from some explosion somewhere, blow past the two of them, causing the two to shield their eyes and one of them to lose their hat. Looking back up as the upturned dusts settled a bit, Kira felt a bit embarrassed at his apparent error as he stared at the blonde in front of him, who was clearly...

"A-a girl?" He stammered in a perfect display of human wisdom, which earned him a glare from the blonde.

"What! What did you thought I was!"

"A-ah no, it's just..."

"Whatever, go back!" The blonde girl, who would eventually be revealed as Cagalli Yula Athha, ordered as another explosive blast rocked past, closing the way back with large amount of rubbles. "There's something that I must confirm myself!"

Kira looked at the girl in confusion and slight exasperation. "But where could I go! The way back's blocked by now!" He avoided the girl's glare, focusing on remembering where he was. A mental map quickly sketched its way into his consciousness, and he took hold of Cagalli's hand and started down another corridor. "Here, this way!"

"Let me go, you idiot!"

"Wha..."

"I…why...why is this happening..." the blonde croaked, her voice cracking a little as she bit down the urge to cry. Kira looked back at her, and forced himself to calm back down, now determined to get her to safety.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely be saved." He said, pulling the girl with him towards where he knew was the exit going through Morgenroete's inner hangers. "There are additional shelters in the factory district; we just have to make it through."

Footsteps clattering rhythmically against the metallic floorboards as phantom licks of flame chased them through the hallways, the two of them had calmed down a little as they rounded the corner, adrenaline sizzling down as they believed themselves to have edged out of danger.

They then went through the opened doorway, and found themselves in another danger altogether.

Once out into the hangers and having caught their breath somewhat, Cagalli caught the sight a small distance away from her. Breaking away hastily to ran up to the railings, the blonde looked deeply betrayed as the hanger's content laid out in the open for all to see. "I...I knew it, the Earth Alliance's new prototype mobile suits! Father you _**traitor**_!"

Following up next to her, Kira stared at the robotic constructs laid below. "What the, those are...Gundams?" He whispered, when suddenly he saw movements from the corner of his eyes. "Get down!" He shouted and grabbed the shoulder of his companion, forcing her down with him as metallic clangs of bullets struck against the railings, ricocheting away and missing them by a small margin. Quickly, he began pulling the crying Cagalli away, running towards where the shelters were.

From below, Murrue Ramius lowered her rifle as she got a clear look at the running duo. "Children!"

* * *

Verniers flaring, the ZAFT pilot Matthew dodged another of the Gundam's attempt to slice into him with its sword, hands gripping the controls tightly as his normal suit tried to dampen the resulting G-forces from the swerve. Unleashing a salvo of 76mm shots in turn, he saw the few lucky rounds that hit splattered against the armour of the enemy suit, doing absolutely no damage at all. He gnarled his teeth in anger, for he knew that he was superior in skill to his opponent given its unrefined and wasteful movements, so that the only reason why he hadn't already shot the rookie down was because of that damned armour and its reaction speed.

It meant that he hadn't already won because his mobile suit was way too inferior to the Celestial Being's machine, and that was _humiliating_.

"Damn it, why is it always the rookies who gets to play with the new toys!" He roared, watching another burst of rounds got wasted. Frustrated, he stored away his machinegun and brandished the GINN's sword. "Fine! Let's see if your armour could take _this_!"

Opposite to the approaching GINN, Setsuna F. Seiei pulled back the handle, spinning Exia around to dodge the incoming sword blow. It had taken a bit of time to put on his normal suit within the cramp interior of the cockpit, and by then the GINNs had already entered the colony. A part of his consciousness knew that that would be the last of them, should Lockon followed the mission objectives, but he paid it no mind. Further GINNs or not, he will complete his mission.

That is, if he could finish the GINN in front of him first. Setsuna frowned, slightly annoyed as his sword slash missed again. His opponent was good, he had to admit, but he still shouldn't have that much problem getting a good hit in. _Why?_ He thought, as he flipped Exia backwards, evading a horizontal slash, then kicked the GINN on the chest. It gave the ZAFT suit a small dent, but the ZAFT pilot recovered fast enough to slip away from the follow up swing of his GN Sword. _Was it because I was facing a Coordinator? Or was it because I did not...I did not..._

A flash of memories fleeted through his mind, of the dusty, dried and ruined streets; of gunshots and broadcasts; of blood, and winged salvation.

No. He knew that he could, that he must, become...

"Gundam." Setsuna muttered softly, eyes hardening. "I am…Gundam!"

With a burst of speed, Gundam Exia flung itself up and brandished its blade, dodging another swing. Aiming down, he slashed at the GINN, then followed up with a shield bash as it removed its' left arm. The ZAFT suit temporarily stunned, Setsuna wasted no time in getting in another swing, cutting off the right leg of the GINN. The ZAFT pilot tried to back away as he pulled out its firearm, but the screens suddenly fizzled out, as the GINN's head was torn away by the beam dagger thrown at it.

Blinded, Matthew's machinegun shots flew wide, and just moments after he began screaming in terror, a solid blade sliced through the GINN's cockpit, forever silencing the ZAFT pilot.

Without another look at the expanding fireball behind, Setsuna boosted his Gundam away and towards the remaining GINN. Three of the Alliance prototypes had already been seized by ZAFT forces, and they had retreated during his duel with the first GINN. That fact didn't bother the Gundam Meister at all, since it was part of the mission, but it also meant that at least one of the remaining two suits must not escape. And to do that he must first deal with the remaining GINN, so it wouldn't be a bother.

He was five seconds away from striking distance when a large explosion went off within the Morgenroete hanger, and two flat-grey mobile suits came bursting out of the inferno.

* * *

A/N: This should not have taken as long as it did. I apologise for that. Also, I would probably come back and edit something once I figured out what felt wrong to me, but that might take awhile since I'd like to start on the next chapter before that one gets delayed too.

As always, comments and constructive criticisms are most welcomed.


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